Tagged: natural cleaning

People think it’s hilarious when I say I have to clean up for the cleaners. So should you clean up for your cleaner? The answer to this has to be ‘No’! But if the question was “Should you tidy up for your cleaner,” then the answer is most definitely yes.

Essentially, I believe you pay a cleaner to clean and not to tidy up. You will get a lot more for your money if your cleaner can get in and actually clean, rather than putting toys away or picking up clothes from the floor.

Mrs Mopp Product Testing – Maid Simple UK

Just before Christmas 2014, Santa Claus made an early visit to Mopp Towers, and dropped off a package of cleaning goodies ready to be tested by our Moppettes. The excitement was clear to see, as the Moppettes, clambered to see the pretty, brightly coloured bottles, popping out of the box of surprises…

Maid Simple Products

The good people at Maid Simple, sent us their entire product range and so, it was only right to give each product a really good testing. We sent several of our Moppettes off, overall several weeks, to test the products in their own homes, and in the homes of willing clients, to see what they thought and how the products performed. After the first test, we all swapped products and repeated the cycle… here is our first instalment of feedback on the main sprays used daily:

The Kitchen Cleaner

Product via Maid Simple

The Maid Simple kitchen cleaner is a zingy grapefruit scented cleaning product, designed specifically for the kitchen.

Just give your kitchen a quick spray with the Spick & Span kitchen cleaner and then wipe with a damp clean cloth – The Spick & Span kitchen cleaner will remove all grease and food splashes from your kitchen worktops, shelving, sinks, taps and cupboards. If you have high-shine cupboards or doors with a gloss texture, Mrs Mopp recommends, to proceed to buff after wiping off the product, to bring to a high shine.

Your kitchen will smell divine and be spick and span just as promised

Kitchen before & After | Maid Simple Products

The Bathroom Cleaner

Bathroom Cleaner | Maid Simple

The Bathroom cleaner form Maid Simple was one of our favourite products! The “Bye-Bye Limescale” bathroom product has a fresh lemony smell and cut through limescale and soap scum like it was going out of fashion!! This bathroom cleaner is great for tubs, tiles, sinks, shower trays and shower screens and will, most definitely become a firm favourite with our Moppettes. Bathrooms are very important to us when cleaning a clients home and this product delivered every time and all without the harsh and over-chemically smells or the usual and well known limescale treaters…

Bathroom Before | Maid Simple Bathroom Cleaner

Bathroom After | Maid Simple Bathroom Product

The Shower Cleaner

If you are busy person who does not have the time to clean on a regular basis, or if you are someone who likes their home to stay shiny and clean, this “Spray & Dash, Shower Cleaner”, is for you! Every day, after you finish your shower, lightly spray your walls, screen (curtain) and tray in a light mist of the Spray and Dash Shower Cleaner and then be on your way… Yup, that’s right, no need to wipe or rinse, just let the product do it’s thang! Your shower will stay clean and it will also make it easier to maintain in between cleans, hurrah!

These of the first three products we will reviewing, with the rest of the range reviews are coming soon to our site. Next time we review the “Done and Dusted” furniture polish, the “Lavish Lustre” granite and marble cleaner and the “Let It Shine” glass and mirror cleaner…. Can we get an Ooooooooo, can we get an Aaaahhhhhhhh

Cleaning Tips w/c 10.11.14

Hello lovely people of the Internet, did you see our visual cleaning tips last week on Facebook? You didn’t? Oh no…

Well the Mama Mopp thought it would be a good idea that we should put them on our website too, just to show visitors, a bit of what your missing out on over on Facebook, you know, er… should you.. err… wanna come over there and like us? 😉

We get that not everyone in the world has a Facebook (really?) so, if you prefer to see written tips, in 140 characters or less, we can do that for you too, over on Twitter at 11am, Monday through Friday. (GMT) If you fancy just a smattering of tips and would rather know what goes on behind the scenes of Mopp Towers, you can add us on Instagram for that.

Social bunch, us Moppettes you know.

Take a look at the weeks round up of the top 5 cleaning tips and let us know your favourite. If you have a cleaning tip that you would like to share with us, please contact us and make sure to include your name so we may give you full credit.

Wooden chopping board in your kitchen? Want to make sure it it properly clean? Try our eco cleaning tip to clean and freshen

My favourite essential oil is lavender. Mmmmm mmmm What will use inside your loo role when trying our cleaning tip for a fresh loo?

Grease on your clothes? Ugh! Try our handy cleaning tip that will have them banished in a jiffy

We hope you enjoyed the round up of last weeks top 5 cleaning tips and that some, if not all of them, will be useful to you at some point. Don’t forget if you have a top cleaning tip of your own, you can share it with us and we’ll share it with the world – just don’t forget to give us your name!

Should you clean up for your cleaner? The answer to this, in a broad definition would have to be no. Clean is the wrong word, a better word would be tidy. If the question was “should you tidy up for your cleaner” then the answer is most definitely yes.

You pay a cleaner to clean and not to tidy up. You will get a lot more for your money if your cleaner can get in and actually clean, rather than putting toys away or picking up clothes from the floor.

You should not have to clean up for your cleaner – the only exception to this rule is if you don’t clean at all in between cleaning visits. Whilst not cleaning your home in between weekly visits is fine, for fortnightly, monthly or longer gaps without cleaning, you should be keeping on top of certain areas or you should expect to have to pay for more time from your cleaner to get on top of 2,3,4, 6 weeks of dirt and grime.

Top 5 Things You Can Do To Help Get The Best From Your Cleaning Time

1. Put away toys in toy chests, pick up clothes from the floor, put DVDS back in the case and put back on the shelf etc. Make sure the clutter is cleared.

2. Make sure your dirty dishes are washed and put away – the great majority of cleaners do not wash dishes as standard, and from a cleaning point of view, dirty dishes can prevent a cleaner getting to the sink to clean and sanitize it and will ruin the look of a finished kitchen

3. If you are providing the cleaning materials always ensure there is enough cleaning solutions and the correct cloths. Always make sure you have a well working vacuum cleaner and that you regularly buy new mop heads and cleaning cloths.

4. Agree beforehand with the cleaner/business what tasks are to be done in the home. If the home is large, or all of the home is not used, draw up a cleaning schedule, (or a business will do that for you) and decide on what tasks will be done on what visit. Be specific in your needs and expectations

5. Know that there are certain things it is not okay to expect your cleaner to do – like take out the rubbish, sort out your recycling, put your clothes away, clean your outside windows etc. If you need help with extra tasks, by all means ask the cleaner/business if it something they would be willing to do or if they have a service they could recommend, but always be prepared to pay extra for the additional services that goes above and beyond the cleaners standard clean

If you have any thoughts or feelings on this post, I would love to hear them.

You work full time, you are a parent full time, a spouse or partner full time and you are on the go full time. You meet yourself coming backwards, run out of hours in the day and still you will not hire the help you know need. But why? What is stopping you?

It’s that nagging guilty feeling in the back of your head isn’t it… and I bet it says these things to you:

1. Only the rich and well off have cleaners, we don’t need one, we can’t afford one. People will think that I think I am Lady/Lord Muck?

2. I should clean my own house – my house, my mess, my responsibility right? How lazy would I be to hire someone else to do tasks I don’t want to do?

3. I feel like I would be exploiting someone. What if the cleaner thinks that I think I am better than them? How do I handle being a boss/client and telling the cleaner what I want to be done without coming across all superior and Lord-Like?

Can I read minds? No, sadly I cannot, but I have worked in this industry many years and have done hundreds of quotations in peoples homes. What I have found is this: Women fight with the decision to hire a cleaner far more than men do. Men see it as a practical necessity; who has time for cleaning bathrooms? Women, however, have a harder time – they guilt trip themselves into thinking that they should be able to do and have it all; then they feel inadequate when they can’t keep a hundred and twenty-seven (often self-imposed) plates in the air at all times, it’s a vicious circle of guilt and pressure.

My advice? Let it go people! Take a deep breath and come join us in the 21st century and step out of the pre-programming of an old society and out dated gender roles: it is okay to ask for (and hire) help! You are not a bad person for not cleaning your own toilet, you are not a bad person for sending your ironing out to be done and you are not a bad person for having a gardener cut your lawn – you are a busy person and a hard working person and you deserves to have some quality time to yourself and if you could give yourself some quality time, you would wouldn’t you, it’s a no brainer?

How to tell the guilt monsters to hush!

1. Only the rich and well off have cleaners

Maybe once upon time that was true but now, with busy lifestyles, a fast-living culture and individuals having more disposable income than before, it is no longer the case. Did you know that over 6 million people in the UK employ a regular cleaning service in their homes and this number grows year on year? Having a cleaning service is for people of all walks of life and I guarantee that there is a cleaning service out there that will suit your needs and your budget. See my earlier posts on What To Look For In A Cleaning Service and What Are the Different Types of Cleaning Service Available.

Even if you cannot afford a weekly service, you could think about having a clean every month, or maybe every quarter. At the very least I would recommend a deep clean/spring clean at least once a year to tackle all the jobs that everybody loves to avoid.

2. I should clean my own house

Firstly, says who? Where is that written other than in 1950’s Good Housewife Guides? Let me ask you – Did you build your own house? Do you grow all your own food? Do you sew all your own clothes? No, no you do not, (other than in imaginary Pintrest World 😉 ). You feel perfectly comfortable paying for those services to be done for you; why would paying someone else to clean your home be any different?

Secondly, unless you live alone, you will not be the only person responsible for making the mess. As was a great, and often repeated phrase of my mothers throughout my childhood: “I did not make the mess alone, so I am not cleaning it alone” – Now you can either 1. draw up a family/roommate cleaning rota (future post coming up about this) and live with the moans, groans and half jobs as your children/spouse/partner/roommate attempt to make you stop asking them for domestic help, 2. mutter sentences of resentment to yourself whilst you begrudgingly clean the kitchen floor because no one has mopped it in three weeks, or 3. You can hire a cleaning service to come in once a week/fortnight/month to help you keep on top of it all without all the drama and family rows.

3. I feel like I would be exploiting someone

Now unless you are forcing someone into cleaning your bath tub I would imagine that there will be no exploiting going on. In the 1911 UK Census there were 1.3 million people employed as domestic servants, more than in any other industry; the hiring of help within the home is nothing new. Cleaners (some 800,000 thousand registered cleaners in the UK today) have voluntarily decided that cleaning is the job they want to do, just like you decided on your job or profession.

Some people see cleaning as lowly profession, even among the working classes, and that I take great insult at and is a myth I try to dispel within my own work force… cleaning is a very noble job; without cleaners, shops, schools, hospitals, doctors surgeries, dentists, heck even the roads and pathways would not be open or function the way they should. I tell my staff that cleaners are like the fourth emergency service; the silent, forever working presence to every backdrop in society. Do not feel sorry for someone being a cleaner, they are not wanting sympathy, most cleaners are happy and take great pride in their work and enjoy to clean, so you are not exploiting anybody, it is their job.

As long as you speak to your cleaner in the same manner you would speak to anyone else you interact with then there are no problems. If you are unhappy about an element of your clean or need to give a different set of instructions to your normal clean, just approach your cleaner as you would a colleague for example, in a friendly, polite and straight forward manner. Cleaners want to do a good job, they like to have happy clients and will not take offense at an area that was missed being pointed out or being given a list of different tasks.

As a final point, and just as a forewarning, even when you hire a cleaning service you may still feel pangs of guilt and also resentment at some one else cleaning your home when you feel like you should be doing it. This is normal and is something I will cover that in next weeks post to help you overcome.

If you have any thoughts or feelings (or stories) about the topic of guilt when hiring a cleaning sevices, I would love to hear them.

So, you have finally decided to get some help in your home. Yay! Brilliant news, just think of all that time you will have to play with, ah good times, lunch with friends, reading that long meant to be read book, taking a stroll… but before we rush ahead, we need to find the right person to clean our homes for us. But who? And how?

As, those regular readers will know, there are four types of cleaning service to choose from, so this post is written to encompass them all – some questions will apply to all business models some questions will not, use your ‘noggin on that.

Where to find a cleaner or cleaning service

By word of mouth – who does your friend use to clean their home? Who does your colleague use? Ask around, hear some reviews.

Local publications – Local sole traders and businesses tend to advertise in local press and magazines

The internet – Type in different search words like “cleaners in Telford” or “Domestic Cleaners in Telford” to find what you are looking for – please note that the top three results in the yellow area are paid for placings

By leaflet Drop – Leaflet dropping is very popular for cleaning businesses, even in this high tech age. When calling from a leaflet make sure it has actual details about the actual business and is in fact a real, registered business and not just somebody looking to make a quick buck.

Things you need to know about you cleaning Service

Are they insured? – What are they insured for, what does it cover? What is the value of their insurance? What is the excess on the insurance and who would be responsible for that in the event of a claim?

How do they vet their cleaners? – How are the employees or subcontractors referenced? Where did they recruit them? How much of the cleaners back ground do they check?

How do they train their cleaners? – Do they have a training process? Do they give any training?

How do they quality check the cleaning work? How do they ensure your cleaner is working the correct times and/or delivering the correct standard?

Who can I call if I have a problem or issue?

What do I do if I am not happy with my clean?

Things you need to know about your cleaner

How long have they worked for the business/franchise/agent/themselves?

How many other houses do they clean?

Do they have references and recommendations?

What training have they had?

Each area can go more in depth and I will be writing future blog posts on interview questions to ask a cleaner/business owner but for now you are armed and ready to find that domestic cleaning fairy to serve you and your home.

I have a black and white tiled floor. The tiles are porcelain and no matter how I clean them, my floor always looks dull and not quite clean. What can I do to make my floors shine?

Answer:

Porcelain tiles are widely used in our homes and offices , they look nice and they are quite easy to take care of with a little know-how.

Quick Cleaning Guide to Porcelain

Vacuum or sweep tiled area prior to mopping – pay particular attention to the corners and sides of the room

Choose your cleaning solution based on the tile type – see below

DO NOT use ammonia or bleach based products on porcelain as it can discolour the tile and alter the grout colour

DO NOT use solutions that contain oil-based detergents, sealant or wax cleaners

Use rugs at all entrances where there are porcelain tiles to prevent walk through of girt and dirt that may damage and scratch your tile

Different Type of Porcelain Tile and how to clean them

Unpolished Tile – For flooring with a moderate dirt level

Vac/sweep – for best results use a clean, dry mop instead of a broom

Saturate floor with cleaning solution and clean first in horizontal and then vertical motions, for a thorough coverage

For stubborn stained areas, scrub the solution into the area with a nylon brush or scrub brush (avoid wire wool products)

Rinse the floor with clean, clear water using a new mop head from the dirty one or using a steam mop

Leave to dry in ventilated room or towel dry/buffer depending on size of the area

Polished/Glazed porcelain tiles

Vac/Sweep

Mop the floor with a mild cleaning solution – On a polished tile you need 50% less product than what you would on an unpolished floor – Mrs Mopp would recommend a cleaning agent that is non-soap based neutral PH cleaner or using a white vinegar mix (2 gallons hot water – 1/4 cup white vinegar)

Rince tiles with clear, clean water

Polish by hand, with a buffer , or with a clean, dry, flat-head microfibre mop to bring to a high shine. If you are cleaning a large floor area you may want to clean the floor in sections, as is the water is allowed to dry you will get water spots and streaking on your tile.

Textured Tile

A textured tile will require a little more cleaning time. Standard wet mopping will not clean the tile to its best, so it is important with a textured tile to clean a little more frequently

Vac/Sweep – for sweeping using a soft bristled broom, First sweep in the direction of the tile and then re-sweep in the opposite direction to ensure all dirt is picked up that may lodge in crevices or the groove of a tile.

Scrub/mop floor with a neutral cleaning solution, again cleaning in both directions. First cleaning one way and then the other to ensure even coverage.

Rinse the floor with clean, clear water and leave to air dry or towel dry/buffer depending on area size

For stubborn stains or high traffic areas it is recommend you clean the floor this thoroughly at least once a week and vac/wet mop daily

The most important thing to remember is to rinse any product – bought or natural – off the floor once washed. For quick cleaning use only hot water and a clean mop head after vacuuming or sweeping and allow to dry or buff if the room is not well ventilated

A: First off DO NOT RUB as you will make it worse, blot it up with paper towels – Now below are a couple of natural remedies that have been proven to work, HOWEVER always test in an inconspicuous area first

1. Put a paper towel over the stain then put an iron over the top, holding on for a few seconds at a time

2. Mayonnaise is the other remedy that helps and it is thought it is the fats in the mayo that will lift the varnish – rub on the stain, leave for 2 hours and then wipe off with a damp cloth

3. Ashes from a fire place rub into the stain and then wiped off with a damp cloth after an hour

A: The three things that would be worth a try (in order) are 1) Sugar soap 2) Lemon and salt paste 3) Baby shampoo… HOWEVER always test an inconspicuous patch first to test. To avoid in the future, try netting across windows and door in the summer months

On the 1st November Mrs Mopp Cleaning Services celebrated its 3rd year in business with exciting news of an expansion into the Shrewsbury area in 2012- click the link below to read the full article from the brillaint, local news site ShropshireLive.com – Thanks so much guys x